Masterson faces 45 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged

The incidents happened 17-19 years ago, but the prosecution insists that the statute of limitations excludes crimes of this nature. That may be right, but proving a case to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt is an ambitious prosecution for crimes that happened two decades ago.

Biden, you monster!


Earlier, “President Trump mockingly warned at his rally in Nevada late Sunday that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would ‘listen to the scientists’ if elected.”

Gee, I wonder what happened to countries that did follow the science.

Oh …

“The Chinese economy grew 4.9% between July and September, as China becomes the first major economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Only the best people.

Scott Atlas is a radiologist. He has no training in virology, epidemiology, public health management, statistical analysis, or any other field that would be relevant to the COVID crisis. It appears that he knows far less about viral diseases than laymen who have been cramming on the subject. You would be better off listening to a witch doctor. They always wear masks. And at least garlic poultices and incantations can’t do any harm. It is also believed that Atlas is nudging President Trump in the reckless direction of using a herd immunity strategy with no vaccine on the horizon.

As the director of the CDC pointed out bluntly, “Everything he (Scott Atlas) says is false.”

To repeat the math on herd immunity: scientists estimate that successful herd immunity would require about 2/3 of a population to carry antibodies. In the USA that is about 220 million people. At least 1.4% of Americans who contract the virus are expected to die from it (currently about 700 dead per day, and 50,000 infections per day), so the death toll would be three million.

And that’s if it works.

It probably won’t work because the immunity seems to be short-lived, which means that, lacking a vaccine, a population might never get to a point where 2/3 of the people have antibodies, because by the time the last people are infected, the immunity might be wearing off in those infected early. Let’s suppose that the antibodies last only four months. In that case, the only way to achieve herd immunity is to get antibodies into 220 million people almost instantly, and the only realistic way to do that is with a vaccine. Infecting 220 million people through community spread in three months may not even be possible, but if it were, the health care system could not possibly handle the number of hospital patients that would emerge from the strategy.

At this point I don’t know the actual average duration of immunity, nor does anyone else. Top researchers throughout the world are still learning about COVID-19. But if it is truly as short-lived as four months, we will have a decidedly difficult time with the logistics of fighting it – even with a vaccine, let alone by community spread.

It was not a happy day here in Wisconsin. The Packers looked invulnerable for the first 4 1/4 games this year – then reality set in and they allowed the Bucs to score the next 38 points.

Packer fans have still had plenty to cheer about this year. Jets fans, if they still exist, have not. The Jets not only lost, they got shut out. What’s more, they have lost the last few against an easier part of their schedule. In the next two weeks they’ll be facing the Chiefs and Bills. The Jets are now the only winless team, as the Giants and Falcons moved up to 1-5 by eking out victories over two other 1-5 teams.

(Speaking of the Chiefs and Bills, they face off Monday with dueling 4-1 records.)

The Steelers impressed, and remained undefeated.

The Titans also remained undefeated, but had to struggle against the 1-5 Texans. The rest of the team may have faltered from time to time, but Derrick Henry didn’t have much trouble. He rushed for 212 yards and two TDS, including a 100-yard dash. It goes in the books as a 94-yard gain, but he lined up for the play well into in his own end zone and ran the full length of the field (shown below). Derrick Henry is almost exactly the same height and weight as President Trump, but he can really get those 238 pounds motoring. (Although, to be fair: (1) his weight may possibly be distributed quite differently from the Donald’s; (2) we haven’t seen Derrick attempt the biggest challenge for guys that size – going down a gently sloped ramp.)

Scoreboard

It ended up they way it should be, I guess, or at least the way it used to be, as the two teams with the best records will face off at the end.

The Dodgers pulled off an improbable comeback. They were down 3-1 in games, then won three in a row. They were down in this game, then pulled off a string of miracles (see the double play below) and some astounding relief pitching, as their last three relievers combined on six innings of no-hit ball.